CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Charlotte Hornets
nearly got caught napping at home against the NBA's second-worst
team.

Eddie Robinson's jumper with 2:47 remaining put Charlotte ahead
for good as the Hornets rallied from a seven-point deficit in
the final seven minutes for a 95-93 victory over the Washington
Wizards.

P.J. Brown scored a season-high 22 points and Elden Campbell
added 18 for the Hornets, who erased an 87-80 deficit after
squandering a 15-point lead in the first half. David Wesley
added 17 for Charlotte.

"Tonight, we had to find a way to win," Charlotte coach Paul
Silas said. "That has been the mark of this club. All season
through the hard times, they've found a way to get it done. It
was a huge win."

Charlotte rebounded from Friday's 114-109 loss at Cleveland and
has won five of its last six to pull within two games of
first-place Milwaukee in the Central Division.

The Hornets were five games behind the Bucks after dropping to
.500 (25-25) following a 103-89 loss to Orlando on February 6.
Since then, Charlotte has won 14 of 17 to pick up three games on
Milwaukee.

"It was another one of those must-win games," Brown said. "Teams
that have nothing to play for are very dangerous. They are
playing for next year. We have to bring the same type of
intensity when we play these teams."

After Campbell hit 1-of-2 from the line to give Charlotte a
95-93 lead with 1:03 remaining, the Wizards had a chance. But
Richard Hamilton's jumper in the lane hit off the front of the
rim with two seconds left.

Brown gave Washington another opportunity by missing two foul
shots with 1.6 seconds to go. After a timeout to advance the
ball to half-court, the Wizards inbounded to Popeye Jones, whose
one-handed shot missed at the buzzer.

"Unfortunately, we had a period in the fourth quarter where we
had three or four possessions where we didn't execute or turned
the ball over," Washington coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We got
beat by a team that just played a little better than we did at
the end."

"We kept fighting," Alexander said. "Lots of times we could have
given up. There's definitely some good things we can take out of
this effort. If only we could have given the same effort at the
start of the game."

Charlotte played the second half of back-to-back games but Silas
would not use that as an excuse.

"I don't think fatigue was a factor," he said. "Washington
played well. There was a mismatch on Courtney Alexander and he
was on fire. Mash (Jamal Mashburn) couldn't get his shot since
they were doubling him. Fortunately, David starting hitting them
and then Elden brought it home."

The Hornets never trailed in the first half, jumping to a 10-2
lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes. Charlotte shot 58 percent
(14-of-24) in opening quarter, building a 35-24 lead.

The Hornets stretched their advantage to 41-26 on Campbell's
jumper with 9:46 left in the first half but could not put away
the Wizards.

Wesley did not like the fact that the Hornets were outrebounded,
38-31. Charlotte also allowed Washington to shoot 47 percent
(34-of-72).

"Our defense has been suspect lately." Wesley said. "We've been
getting outrebounded the last two games, which is unlike us. We
know what we have to work on."

Washington closed to 57-53 at the break and held the lead for
most of the third quarter before Robinson's jumper with 58
seconds left put Charlotte up, 77-76, entering the final period.

Hubert Davis' 3-pointer gave the Wizards an 87-80 lead, but the
Hornets responded with an 8-0 spurt, taking an 88-87 lead on
Campbell's layup with 4:01 remaining. Charlotte scored its final
five points from the line.